Privacy

Happy Grieving Limited runs Happy Grieving and Grief Trips. This explains what we collect, why, who else sees it, and what you can ask us to do about it.

You are here because you are grieving, or because you love someone who is. What you tell us is often the most private thing you have. We have tried to write this in plain language rather than the usual kind, because a policy you cannot read is not really a policy.

Who we are

Happy Grieving Limited is a company registered in Hong Kong, Business Registration Number 77994515, incorporated 11 April 2025. We are the data controller for everything described here.

• Bookings, payments and anything official: [email protected]
• Community and general questions: [email protected]
• Post: Tower 1, Starcrest, 9 Star Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong

What we collect, and how

When you fill in a booking or enquiry form. Your name, where you live, which trip and room you are interested in, how you would prefer to pay, and anything you choose to write in a message box. Our form saves what you have entered as you go, so if you start and do not finish, we still hold what you typed up to that point.

When you apply to the Increasing Financial Access Program. The above, plus what you tell us about your financial circumstances. Rachel reads every application herself.

When you book. Your WhatsApp number and your dietary requirements or allergies. Closer to travel, we may need details for flights, insurance or accommodation.

When you talk to us. Messages you send by email, Instagram direct message, Instagram comment, WhatsApp or on a video call. If you book a discovery call we hold the booking details and whatever is discussed.

When you join a trip or community WhatsApp group. Your phone number and display name become visible to the other people in that group. We cannot make that private, so please join knowing it.

When you subscribe to the letter. Your email address and first name.

When you pay. We see that a payment was made, the amount, and the name on it. We never see or store your full card number.

When you visit our websites. See "Cookies and analytics" below.

The sensitive part, said plainly

Most of what people share with us is about a death. Who died, when, how, and how you are coping. You may also tell us about your physical health, your mobility, your mental health, your religion or your dietary needs, because a trip cannot be run safely or kindly without knowing.

Under UK and EU law most of that is "special category" data and needs a higher bar. We rely on your explicit consent. You do not have to tell us anything, and you can tell us only part. If something is genuinely necessary for us to run a trip safely we will say so and explain why, rather than collecting it quietly.

What we do not do with it. Your story is not marketing material. We do not quote you, name you, photograph you for promotion, or use anything you have told us in a post, a page, a testimonial or a pitch unless you have specifically agreed to that use, in writing. We keep a record of every such agreement. You can withdraw it at any time and we will act on it everywhere within 48 hours.

Why we use it, and our lawful basis

• Answering you, quoting a trip, holding a spot. Steps you asked for before a contract.
• Running the trip you booked and taking payment. Performance of our contract with you.
• Dietary, health, mobility and access needs. Your explicit consent, and protecting vital interests in an emergency.
• The letter and community email. Your consent, withdrawable in every message.
• Keeping accounting and tax records. Legal obligation.
• Keeping people safe. Our legitimate interests, and vital interests. See below.

Safeguarding, and the one time we may act without asking

If you tell us something that makes us believe you or someone else is at immediate risk of serious harm, we may act on it. That can mean pointing you to crisis support, contacting an emergency service, or contacting someone you have named as an emergency contact.

We also record, internally, that a person is in crisis. The only thing that record does is take you out of every sales and marketing conversation we run, permanently. Nobody in crisis is a sales lead. We would rather lose the booking.

If you need support right now, the crisis resources are here.

Who else sees your information

We use other companies to run the business. They only get what they need, and only to do a job for us.

• Cloudflare. Our websites and the service behind our forms.
• Notion. Our records of enquiries, bookings and payments.
• Stripe and Wise. Taking payments.
• Resend. Automated booking and enquiry emails.
• Kit. Subscribers to the letter.
• Microsoft and Google. Our email inboxes, calendar and video calls.
• Calendly. Booking discovery calls.
• Meta, which is Instagram and WhatsApp. Messages, comments and group chats.
• Cloudinary. Photographs and video.
• Google Analytics. Website statistics on grieftrips.com.

We do not sell your information. We do not share it with anyone else for their own marketing.

Guest facilitators who work on a trip with us, for example a grief yoga teacher, may be told what they need in order to keep you safe and included, such as a mobility or dietary need. They are told the minimum, and they are not given your story.

Where your information goes

We are in Hong Kong. Our suppliers are mostly in the United States and Europe. If you are in the UK or the EU, that means your information leaves your country. We rely on our suppliers' standard data protection terms for those transfers.

How long we keep it

We do not currently delete anything on a schedule. Enquiries, applications, bookings, payment records, messages and trip records are kept for as long as we are running, and the trip WhatsApp groups stay open after the trip because people want them to. You can leave a group at any time.

Some of it we are required to keep: accounting and tax records have to be held for seven years.

We would rather tell you that plainly than publish a set of deletion periods we do not actually follow. If you want your information deleted, ask us and we will delete it, other than anything the law requires us to keep.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us to:

• tell you what we hold about you, and give you a copy;
• correct anything wrong;
• delete it;
• stop using it, or limit how we use it;
• withdraw a consent you gave, including consent to use your story;
• receive it in a portable form.

Email [email protected]. We will reply within 30 days, and usually much sooner. A request to withdraw consent for your story or photograph is acted on everywhere within 48 hours.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled it you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong (pcpd.org.hk), or, if you are in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk), or your local supervisory authority in the EU.

Cookies and analytics

grieftrips.com uses Google Analytics to understand how people find and move around the site. It sets cookies in your browser, and information about your visit goes to Google. happygrieving.org does not run analytics.

There is no cookie banner, so those cookies are set when you arrive. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings at any time, and you can opt out of Google Analytics on every site using Google's own browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Children and young people

Our trips are designed for adults. Someone under 18 is welcome to come if they travel with their own parent or guardian, who books on their behalf, stays responsible for them throughout the trip, and gives consent for the information we need to hold about them.

We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18 who is not travelling with their own adult. If you believe a child has given us information, email us and we will delete it.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top. If the change is significant we will say so in the letter rather than hoping you notice.